Tifa's Dreams
by Cara-dactyl
Summary: Tifa has been suffering nightmares for a while. When she finally seeks help to get rid of them, she finds out that maybe someone who has been battling them his whole life could have the answers she needs. Rating is T, but that may change later on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! I hope you enjoy this story I'm about to write. **

**I know that the Vincent/Tifa tag has been quiet for a long time, most of my personal favorite stories are a few years old. So I'm going to write a fresh one! Why? Well, to be honest, when I put Vincent and Tifa in the filters and try to find stories about them, all I find are Cloud/Tifa and Yuffie/Vincent. The exact opposite. So how do you counter that? Well, you fight story with story! I'm not sure how long this will be, so bear with me. Enjoy.**

* * *

My name's Tifa Lockhart. I'm 23 now, a full-time bartender and a part time foster parent to two wonderful kids, Marlene and Denzel. When the kids aren't with me, they're spending time with Marlene's father Barret or a wonderful lady named Elmyra. I owe that woman so much for everything she's done over the years, but I am afraid that if she knew what was going on with me, she wouldn't let the kids come see me anymore.

See, I've been having these awful nightmares for the longest time now. It seems like forever ago when they started. More often than not anymore, I'll go to bed and wake up a few hours later crying or screaming.

For someone like me though, it's not a real big deal to have nightmares that have such adverse effects. I mean, I have been involved in two attacks on the planet now, and after that well, if someone could come out of it completely unfazed, I'd have to give them props.

However these dreams started even during our meteor adventure. I can remember various Inns where we stayed, and nearly every night I'd wake up in a panic. The frequency at which these dreams occur is so high, I almost dread going to bed every night.

What's worse is they seem to repeat over and over. They're the same person in my dreams, the same situations. They all revolve around the same monster, and surprisingly enough, it's not Sephiroth.

I'm sure you are aware who Vincent Valentine is.

Let me explain a little bit. No, I don't mean Vincent is the monster in my dreams, but for whatever reason, Vincent is always around at the very end of the dreams, right when I'm about to either be killed, or watch someone I love die. To be honest, he's never helping. Needless to say, near the end of our meteor journey, I was putting more and more distance between myself and the gunslinger.

Sure, when I'm forced into situations where I have to communicate with him, I can put on a fake smile and a cheery tone any day. I'm pretty sure he never noticed and I am quite happy to keep it that way.

The tall, mysterious vampire-esque man we found in a coffin. I wasn't with Cloud when they found him, but when they emerged from the mansion with him in tow, I was at a loss for words. All I know about him was that he was a Turk a long time ago, then put in that cold damp box and then 30 years later, he was on our team. That's where my knowledge of him stopped.

Anyways, I'll tell you about the latest dream I had.

It was one of those dreams that was _so _vivid, _so_ real, that it just replays in your mind all day and it affects your daily life. I was afraid to talk to anyone about it forever until finally, I couldn't hold it inside anymore, and I called up an old friend from Avalanche, hoping her enthusiasm for life and her vibrant personality would help me. Well, it sort of blew up in my face.

Anyways, I called up Yuffie and invited her over to chat. She happily agreed, having nothing else to do and said that she would pack her bags then. Within the next day she was in Edge at my bar with me. With the kids gone and the bar closed, I made a couple drinks for the both of us, and we retired upstairs to my bedroom. I spilled out everything to her.

* * *

_The dream itself was a shorter dream, but no less frightening. I remember Barret and Yuffie herself were there and I think maybe Cid was there too? Cloud wasn't a part of my dream until later on. I can't recall too many faces or conversations because of the fire and the explosions happening around us in that dream. _

_I remember it was an old building, and one by one, myself and some of our old team showed up to help save the civilians from the burning flames._

_I could recall the fire was getting closer as I kept ushering the smaller children out to go find their parents. _

_"Come on, sweetie. Come on! I'm here now, so let's get out of here!" I was pulling a crying child out from a broom closet. The child had a vague resemblance to Marlene._

_It was just a regular dream, I can't recall too much of what happened until the very end. We would have been a lot faster, had we not encountered a group of self-proclaimed 'tough guys'. They all wanted to act macho and pretend that they weren't in any danger and they could get themselves out if they wanted._

_I could not tell you where this building was, nor how we go there. All I can remember is just being there, and the fear on the faces of people we rescued. _

_I remember being in a crowd of strangers with Barret trying to herd everyone away when he suddenly called out to me, "Teef! Vincent's coming! Him and Cloud are coming to help!"_

_I looked up through hole in the siding, and I could see outside just a little bit. Sure enough, through the smoke and heat shimmers, I saw them. The familiar Fenrir pulled up to the mess, that's when Cloud came, and Vincent was seated behind him. They skidded to a halt in front of the building and leaped off the bike to come help._

_I can't recall too much else that happened, it was just a dream. Except I could remember the emotions I was feeling. I remember fear the most. I was afraid of something. Was there something in the flames? Something that caused the flames in the first place?_

_We had gotten the people out of the building, but I remember thinking that I heard a child's cry, and going back in._

_Barret was shouting my name but my legs wouldn't quit moving. What was I going after again? _

_I know I am asking more questions than answering._

_Ah, I do remember now. I was going after a child, when I re-entered this place. Then I realized that the child wasn't really a child. There was a monster in the flames, and it was luring me into the building so it could bring it down while I was still inside._

_I then remember putting two and two together. For some reason though I couldn't get Vincent's demons off of my mind while I was trying to escape the building. _

_I kept remembering Chaos. Chaos. Why was I thinking of Chaos? Vincent was rid of all the demons inside him wasn't he? Isn't that why he went after Omega? Or was Chaos the one behind this?_

_I was trying to go back the way I came, but the doorways were disappearing and reappearing in different places. The building seemingly had a mind of its own and I was trapped. That was the scariest part, I remember the despair at opening doors only to find more burning hallways or debris-filled rooms._

_Just as I was thinking it was over for me, I heard a voice behind me. I turned to see Vincent had appeared in the rubble and smoke behind me._

_I called to him over the flames but he didn't respond. A piece of the ceiling crashed down in front of me and I had to turn away. I told Vincent to find another way out as I kept going. _

_As I made another hopeless turn through another doorway, I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Vincent was following me. Did they send him after me? I remember turning and calling for him to leave before quickly moving away from him. I turned a corner and tried to disappear from him. If the building was going to come down, I didn't want it to come down on him too._

_The game of chase seemed to intensify as I felt the gunman right upon my back, following me. I found myself trying to run away. I was trying to escape Vincent, but why? Why was I running from Vincent? He was my friend, or at least a close acquaintance._

_When the floor above me started to moan and signal it was going to give way, I turned around to face Vincent, and he was right on top of me. I jumped at how close he was. His face was mere inches from my own and I needed to back up. I could remember feeling severely intimidated by him, almost scared of him. I knew that he wouldn't hurt me, or at least I don't think he would._

_I remember that without warning Vincent reached out and grabbed my arm sharply and I felt myself shriek as he started to drag me. I struggled, kicking at him and clawing his hand. I yelled for him to let me go. His demeanor never changed, just that same cold, stern air he always had. He continued to drag me, and I can recall that his strength was far greater than my own._

_The fire suddenly roared louder in my ears as the building started to fall apart. The timbers were creaking and giving way to the heat of the flames and rafters fell only feet away from Vincent and I. We were going to die here. Or we would have if it had been real life. I was fighting Vincent's grip and trying to tell him we were going to get killed if we didn't get out of there, just as he turned a cold glare back to me. We stared at each other for a moment, then Barret, Yuffie and Cloud appeared in one of the doorways._

_Yuffie shrieked "C'mon guys!"_

_Barret and Cloud yelled something too but I don't remember what they said, only the sound of their voices. _

_The flames were getting intense, or maybe I was just getting uncomfortable in Vincent's grasp. I struggled a bit more and I heard Barret yelling at Vincent to let go of me._

_Just as Vincent slowly released me there was a flash of light. I couldn't even see two inches in front of me, not that I'd want to, the light was so blinding that even shielding my eyes and squeezing them closed was not enough to block the light. Was it an explosion? That was the only explanation I could think of._

_I remembered wondering if Vincent and the others had been caught up in it too, but I wasn't sure. It felt like the whole world faded away around me._

_I don't recall any pain, heck I don't recall feeling much of anything to be honest. Just that I couldn't open my eyes for fear that the light would burn my retinas out. It didn't last forever though, just as I started to open my eyes to the light and try and see, it went away._

_I dared open both of my eyes to see what was happening. To my utter surprise, I was outside, and the world was normal again. The green, green grass covering every inch of the ground, and trees the size of small buildings. And the sky, oh the beautiful sky, as blue as ever with fluffy rolling clouds._

_Maybe I had dreamed that part in my dream? Maybe I took that part of my dream from a completely different dream. Maybe there wasn't a fire._

_Then as I turned to look around, I saw that same building, black and charred and reduced to nothing but a huge pile of smoldering rubble. Some small flowers were growing around the base of the mess, and it was almost poetic in a way._

_That's not what got my attention the most though. There was a long, white stretcher of sorts lying near the debris and someone was lying on it. I dared to venture forward and I remember surprise filling my heart- I was staring at myself!_

_I was staring my own face, however I was not looking back. My eyes were closed, and my skin was pale. I was lying among white fabric of sorts, maybe silk? And the silk flowed from me in a white sort of halo, gently cascading over the edges of the long stretcher. Wait a minute, why a stretcher?_

_I looked at it more, and then I looked at my body again. I was dressed in a light blue dress, and my hair was undone, splayed out underneath me. My body was pale and almost paper-white. It was obvious that I had been lying there for a while, my face was sort of puffy. I looked at myself further trying to understand, trying to remember. Pink and yellow flowers dotted my hair beautifully, and in my hands was a white and blue bouquet of them._

_I couldn't remember, and I still can't remember why I was having this out of body experience. Then suddenly my friends showed up again. I looked at all of them, but for some reason I couldn't speak, nor communicate with them in any way. They were all dressed in dark clothes, mourning. I was trying to remember what was going on. Then Nanaki was the first to speak, the first I could understand. "Even now…She's so beautiful."_

_Then the realization hit me; I was staring at my own dead body, in this weird screwed up dream._

_I didn't wake up then, though. _

_My friends continued to watch my body, as did I. They all said nice things about me, and continued to ask themselves why I had gone that way. I couldn't say why I was dead, maybe the light had something to do with it._

_Then I remember as I tried to walk away, Cloud, Barret and the others stepped back and sort of parted the way. I stopped trying to leave and looked at who they were moving for and I remember watching as Vincent walked onto the scene, he was not wearing entirely black clothing like the rest. He was wearing his regular clothes though, which I guess are dark enough to mourn._

_I watched him, and for some reason I was still uneasy around him. I remember looking at Cloud, hoping the blonde would send him away or at least make him back off but to no avail. Why was I so unnerved?_

_Barret then reached up a hand and clapped Vincent on the shoulder and spoke, "Are you sure you wanna do this, man?" _

_What? Do what? I narrowed my eyes in confusion. What was Vincent doing? The long raven-haired man nodded slowly, his red eyes never leaving my body, a very quiet, soft 'yes' escaped his lips._

_Cloud, really calm for having lost his childhood friend, then said "She really deserves a peaceful rest, Vince. I mean, there are other ways of being forgiven."_

_Vincent once again never tore his eyes from me as he said, "I'm the one who put her in this position. It's only fair that I repay her this way."_

_Vincent…put me here? Was Vincent saying he killed me? Is that why I screamed and fought him when he grabbed me in the building? Is that why was so afraid of him? I know, I'm asking too many questions over a silly dream again._

_I watched as Cloud nodded and the rest of them backed away. I opened my mouth to say something, just as another bright light flashed and I was forced to shield myself again._

_When I came to again, it was dark and felt warm, almost hot even. I had to blink a few times to adjust my eyes. It was like a dungeon almost, the walls around me were stone and the floor was dirt. There was one single dark shape on the floor, and it looked like a coffin. This place is very familiar but where could it be?_

_I very quickly looked around and located a figure sitting a few feet away from me, near the box. I began to stress out again, but I couldn't wake from this dream. I wasn't even aware yet that I was dreaming. The figure moved to the shape on the floor and opened a lid, further supporting my belief that it was a coffin._

_I stared at whoever was climbing into the coffin and soon recognized the brass arm on the left. It was Vincent again. This time however I remember that I wasn't scared as much as I was curious. I watched Vincent as he crawled into the coffin and sat down._

_He covered his hands in his face and went silent. I could remember the seconds ticking by and Vincent did not look up even once. I looked around and kept trying to remember where this place was, but it was so dark that it was hard to tell. It looked like the mansion._

_Watching Vincent for a while longer I remember trying to talk but no words came out. I tried to move to touch him, but instead of touching him, I phased through him instead. I don't remember crying at all, just a deep sorrow._

_I watched as Vincent lifted his head and he slowly reached down to his waist as his golden arm continued to hold the side of his head. I remember stupidly trying to talk again, to tell Vincent that it was okay, that I'm sure he didn't mean to kill me._

_I never got the words out. I watched as Vincent's hand returned from under his cloak, brandishing his gun._

_I tried to move to him, trying to stop him and tell him that it was okay, it was okay. _

_I couldn't do anything though and I helplessly watched as Vincent brought the barrel of his gun up to his own chin._

_With an unreadable expression on his face, I could only stare helplessly as Vincent laid down in his coffin. The shot rang out in a deafening bang, only amplified by the stone walls. In that instant, blood spattered everything. Red drops spewed everywhere, starting with his face and hair, the silk of the coffin's interior, the coffin, and the walls, just everywhere._

* * *

Then I woke up after that, flailing helplessly in the aftershocks of my nightmare.

I told all of this to Yuffie and she listened intently. Inwardly I was grateful that she chose not to tease me over the fact that it was about Vincent. I had to take breaks throughout my tail to keep my emotions in check. To my dismay though, my alleged friend's only response at the end of the tale was to see a therapist.

To reiterate, I wasn't necessarily ever afraid of Vincent, maybe just a slight case of unease. From the day we found him in that coffin, I knew he'd have one hell of a story. I just didn't think I would play such a role in the future portion of his story. I barely ever asked him for the time of day during our meteor adventure. In fact by the time I would actually willingly go chat with him, the mission was almost at its climax and then my nightmares came.

Then came Deepground, which only caused our group to divide, Vincent was with Cid, Reeve, and Yuffie while I myself with Barret and Cloud. I never saw him much after that, so that's why this dream came as a sort of shock.

So all in all, I don't know why Vincent is the one who keeps appearing to me like that. I asked Yuffie what she thought about it, and she told me not to worry about it.

I knew well enough not to worry about it. I knew that even if "Vinny", as Yuffie called him, wanted to hurt someone, I'd probably be the last person on his list.

What I did not know though, was that after telling Yuffie all this and worrying about what it meant, she was about to throw me under the bus, a bus driven by the mysterious Vincent Valentine himself.


	2. Chapter 2

It was maybe a couple days after Yuffie had visited that I decided I needed a change of scenery at least for a while. I had been thinking about it for a while now but at Yuffie's suggestion I finally decided that maybe it would do me some good.

Somehow or other, I managed to convince Cloud to take care of the bar for me for the weekend. How I did it, I haven't the faintest idea, but I really need to remember.

Surprisingly, even to me, I didn't ask Cloud to go with me. I never told him about my nightmares, although I'm sure he probably noticed the symptoms. To be fair though, he only asked me if I was okay like, one time.

In the end, through the constant pestering I received from Cloud about whether or not I needed him to come with me, or if I was mad at him, I managed to pack a bag and head out Friday morning.

I guess I just wanted to be alone to gather my thoughts. Even from Cloud.

My first stop was the chocobo farm to see about renting a chocobo, then onto Kalm to see Elmyra and the kids.

Being that Cloud was the master at riding them, I never got involved too much with chocobos. In this case though, I didn't want to walk all over the place. So I opted to see what they had.

I don't own a car, nor have I ever owned one before, except for that one time we stole Shinra's truck. It was a nice truck. It reminded me of my dad's old one he used to drive us out in the country with. After my father died, I was in Midgar getting medical treatment. I couldn't stop the auction that happened at my house and to my great sadness, when I came back all my father's stuff had been auctioned away. I liked that old truck of my dad's, and Shinra's truck too. I _would_ have kept Shinra's myself, if it wasn't for Barret Grabby-hands. Oh well.

I managed to get a bus that headed out towards the farm and quickly hopped it. It took a while, but by lunch I was getting off the bus and to my great surprise, Elmyra had beaten me to the punchline, and was there with the kids!

I felt a small, but real smile cross my face and my spirits lifted as I was caught sight of by Marlene.

"Tifa!" She raced over to me and I grabbed her and scooped her up into my arms, grunting just a little as I did at the few pounds she'd gained since being 6.

Denzel was riding one of the yellow birds in the pen and waved at me, a huge goofy grin across his face. His happy face made me joyful, knowing how much the boy had been through.

Elmyra smiled at me, her care-worn face seemed bright. I met up with her and she asked me, "How are you, dear?"

I dropped Marlene and watched her run to Denzel for a turn, I replied, "I'm doing well."

The elder woman watched the kids with me and responded slowly, "Have you been sleeping any better at night?"

The question surprised me, though I tried not to show it. I asked quickly, maybe a little too quickly, "What do you mean?"

Elmyra looked back into my eyes with her deep blue ones and said, "Well you just helped save the world once again from soldiers and a giant monster, did you not?"

I didn't visibly show any relief as I internally sighed. She didn't know about the _kinds_ of nightmares I was having and that was fine. Not that they were sexual in any way. Just nightmares about an old team mate and what he used to have inside of him.

"O-oh. No, that's all over with. I'm fine. Besides I'm not the one who did all the work. That was Reeve and his men."

Elmyra nodded and turned her gentle gaze back to the children. Marlene had somehow climbed onto the chocobo and Denzel was chasing them around. I took the opportunity to ask, "How have you been getting along?"

She nodded, "I'm doing a lot better these days. With these two to keep me busy, I don't have time to think a lot about the past." I nodded. Maybe it would help me too, should I take the kids back for a while.

We talked some more and Denzel finally came to give me a hug, then I walked into the stables with both children holding each of my hands. We ogled all the colored birds together, and as the kids were distracted with them, I went to talk with the manager about a chocobo. He led me around the stalls and showed me all of his birds. We bartered a bit over the cost of renting one, and what all I needed to take.

At first the man wanted something like 90,000 gil which I nearly walked out right then, but at the look on my face, he must've realized how dumb he sounded and toned it down. In the end though, I chose a pretty white bird and left with it.

Marlene giggled as she pet my newly acquired bird and I dismounted to give them all one final hug and goodbye. Then I was off to Junon, hoping that Reeve would be home.

I had my chocobo gallop full speed most of the way. It was a couple extra hours trying to get over the mountains on a nervous bird. I think the man sold me a bird that had never seen the outside before to be honest. Many times she would bridle and stop.

We were crossing over a large rocky hill when she bucked, –"Easy, girl!" but after a helping of greens we had few problems.

It was early evening when I finally got to Junon. It was so hard to navigate that city but after calling Reeve twice to ask where the hell I was, I finally found his house.

Reeve invited me in warmly and had me sit at the table while he worked on dinner. I started to ask him about Cait, but had no more gotten the words "Where is-" when the cat bounded into the kitchen with us, greeting me happily.

We were just about to eat when Reeve got a call and excused himself. I waited patiently, not hungry enough to be rude. Cait was still in the kitchen with me because Reeve had ordered him to help clean up. I watched the fortune teller run around humming to himself and cleaning for a moment before I turned my attention to the doorway.

I tried to listen to Reeve's voice and figure out what he was saying, but all I heard were bits and pieces such as "Are they?", and "No, I'm not sure."

After a good five more minutes or so Reeve came back. "I apologize. It was Yuffie and you know how she is."

I knew very well and nodded in response. Reeve sat back down and I turned my head a little. "What's she doing?"

Reeve took a bite and chewed on it for a moment before responding. "Not much that I'm aware of. She is living back in Wutai again. She just called wanting to know if I knew where Vincent was."

I was in the middle of taking a sip of water when he said that. I coughed in my glass and set it down. Wiping the water off of my chin I asked him carefully, "Vincent?"

Reeve looked at me with a strange expression and responded slowly. "Yes?" I composed myself and nodded at him. "What's she trying to find Vincent for?" Reeve shrugged. "I did not ask. I couldn't answer her anyways, I don't know where he's been."

I nodded and ate the rest of my dinner in silence, thinking about Yuffie. Sure she wasn't the most honest person when I met her. Quite frankly she was more annoying to me than anything. However she had seemed to mature more in these last couple of years, or at least I thought. God knows she better not be doing what I think she's doing. I would be devastated if she told Vincent about what I told her. It'd be one more hopeless relationship I've tried to build with someone.

Not to mention the fact that I'd probably end up charged with murder if Yuffie did open her fat mouth.

Not much else happened after that. After our wonderful dinner Reeve offered to take me out for ice cream. He was such a kind man, I really did admire him. Even at my initial refusal, I found myself at a small ice cream parlor in town sharing dessert with Reeve.

Afterwards, I had hoped to find something to do to pass the time, but instead Reeve took us back to his house, mentioning something about a lot of paperwork he had to do. Being a gentleman, he insisted that I stay the night in his guest room, which I obliged. I didn't feel like making the four hour trip back to Edge that night, not to mention if I did go back to the city I wouldn't have a place to put my chocobo, whom I fondly referred to as Ghost.

Cait was kind enough to show me to my room for the night and needless to say after travelling all day, I sort of crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Even though I was in Junon and in a bed that was not my own, it wasn't enough stimulus to keep away the darkness that filled my dreams.

I couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour or two when it began this time.

* * *

_First I was flying, the night sky was cloudy and black. I felt empty on the inside and I had no goal in mind except to keep going. I was racing over water, and looking for something. Then I must have flown to far down and I was under the surface. I tried to redirect myself and swim upwards towards the surface, but as I would get there, it would keep moving further and further upwards. I felt as if I was trapped there. The promise of a slow demise all around me. With a strangled cry I tried to reach my arms up and-_

"Tifa."

_My vision was going blurry. I flailed around trying to grab onto something, anything._

"Tifa!"

My eyes snapped open and I gasped for breath. Reeve was shaking my arm and staring at me with a worried expression on his face. "Good. You're awake."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes for a moment. "What's up?"

Reeve's face turned from concerned to incredulous. "You seemed to be having a nightmare. I could hear you in my room."

I closed my eyes to hide the fact that I was rolling them. Great, now another person will probably get curious and try to weasel my story out of me. I sighed. "I'm very sorry Reeve."

The older man smoothed out a place on the edge of the bed and motioned to it, asking gently, "May I?" I nodded.

He sat down on the edge and brushed the wrinkles out of his pajama pants and asked another question. "Are you alright? You were having that dream for a long time, you know."

At his words, I glanced at the clock on the night stand. My internal clock was way off, as I had only thought I was asleep for a short time. It was 4:30 in the morning.

I put on what I hoped was a sweet smile and responded, "I'm fine Reeve, thanks. Just a bad dream is all." It was Reeve's turn to nod his head.

"I see."

We sat in silence for a moment longer, then Reeve began, "Does this happen often?"

It's not that I wanted to lie to my friend, but I just didn't want the agony of explaining it a million times. So, I started to tell him no, but as I was going to the bedroom light clicked on, eliciting a small growl out of myself while Reeve flinched at the sudden disruption.

Cait Sith waddled into the room, I could see that Reeve hadn't deactivated him for the night, which I'm guessing he probably wished he had now. "What's goin on?"

Reeve then stood up and said, "Tifa needs a glass of warm milk, go get it."

The robot went to do his bidding, and Reeve turned back to me. "Maybe you should take a few more days off, Tifa." My only response was a tired smile and a slow "Maybe…"

After the cat had brought me the glass of milk, I downed it and laid back down. At this point there was no reason for me to try and go back to sleep so I opted to just lay there quietly and listen to Reeve's gentle snoring in the next room.

Well if I was going to take a few more days off, then I might as well go visit everyone else.

* * *

**A/N: Yay chapter 2! I know I had Reeve doing a lot of sweet things for Tifa here, and it's not that I wanted to make him seem like he was putting the moves on her. I just wanted him to sort of show her that he was there for whatever she was going through.**

**Anyways, I hope you liked it, and as always I appreciate comments, just not rude ones. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello! So here's chapter 3, I wasn't going to post it until tomorrow, but someone reviewed and called me out for deleting the story I posted the first time, (thanks alesana4ever) so I feel like I should explain. Thank you for that, too! I didn't think anyone was going to read this story, so when I read that, I was surprised! I appreciate it :) **

**Yes, I did have just one chapter up a couple days ago, but I took it down because it was just a little one/two-shot at first. I started to think about it after I posted it, then I was like "Nah. If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna give them something to read, not some dinky little page." So yeah, I took it down and changed it a little, to spread it out over a few more chapters, hopefully it will be better. Thank you for noticing!**

* * *

I would say that I was up the next morning, but it was morning already when I had woken up from my nightmare and Reeve had spoken to me. When I finally got up and around, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. I took a quick hot shower and cleaned myself up. Reeve was already awake, and when I made my presence known to him, he greeted me with a smile.

As I embraced him, ready to say goodbye, he surprised me one more time, by giving me a ferry ticket. I couldn't help the silly grin on my face as I took it and thanked him. Reeve only nodded his head in response and said, "Go get some sun today."

I boarded the ferry with Ghost in tow, putting her in a small coral at the back of the ship. The travelling itself wasn't too exciting and honestly I think I took a snooze in the chair I was sitting in. Before I knew it I was in Costa Del Sol.

Now, any day I would have stayed at the beach and took in the rest and relaxation. This though was different, it had a different feeling to it. Going to a resort is less fun when you're alone, so I couldn't help but notice all the people who were with their friends and al the couples together. I was hoping that maybe someone I recognized would show up.

I took Ghost to the stables, hoping she'd mingle with the other chocobos there nicely and left for the Inn. After I checked in and went to my room, I threw my bag on the bed and turned to look out the window. The sun was so bright and the sand and water reflected it so beautifully. It really would be a gorgeous place for a date.

I headed back downstairs to the bar, I never really saw the inside of the bar before, and maybe I could get some fresh ideas for my own 7th Heaven. Feeling a bit lighter since I was in a resort, I slid into a booth and picked up the drink menu.

I glanced around the bar, but none of the faces looked too familiar. All the people there were probably from there, or maybe on vacation. I had never seen any of them before though.

I sat there, and sat there for a while, I pulled out my phone and looked to see if I had missed any messages but there weren't any.

Finally, the waitress came by and I had just given her my order when suddenly, a man I didn't know slid into the other side of the booth. I watched him precariously as he grinned at me. "Hello beautiful."

Feeling that it would be safer to play along for a while than to fight him, I bit my lip and smiled nervously. "Hello."

He continued to eye me, like a dog eyes a piece of meat. "You're not with anyone?"

I lied between my teeth. "No, my friend's upstairs in our room."

The brunette man gave me a look that told me he could see right through me. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not like the guys around here."

_'__Oh here we go_.' I thought to myself. Forcing myself to stay polite, I resisted the urge to get up and walk away. "You don't say?"

That's when he got into it. He started comparing my "beauty" to all sorts of meaningless objects that apparently he thought I held some value for. That's when I decided that I was finished. When the bartender came back with my drink, I drank it quickly, slapped some coins on the table, uttered a hasty goodbye, and got up to leave.

I wasn't so lucky however.

The younger boy followed me out. "Where you running off to?" Being that my face was turned away from him, I didn't care to hide the fact that I was rolling my eyes at him. I turned to face him and started to say, "Hey dude, listen. You're nice and all, but-"

He cut me off and said the lowest, downright trashiest thing he could have. "I just want to know, do you go all the way?"

I glared at him then. "Excuse me?"

He foolishly repeated himself. I pressed my lips together and drew in a deep breath. "Kid. You crossed the line."

The boy wasn't scared of me at all, and even pressed on. "What? I just asked a question. You hiding skeletons in your vagina or something?"

I laid into him then. In an instant, my fingers bent and the palm my hand cut upwards into his nose, effectively dislocating his nasal cavity. He fell back with a cry of pain and grabbed his face as his back hit the ground.

With a look of intense hatred he glared up at me. "You bitch!"

I stood over him then, and spoke in an equally angry voice. "That's a warning, you asshat. Don't you _ever_ speak to a woman like that again."

I turned and left then. Costa Del Sol was ruined for me. I went to the inn and got my money back, and gathered my things. I was so angry at the nerve that kid had. The absolute disrespect, and no chivalry whatsoever. He couldn't have been 18 years old, but the way he talked was absolutely intolerable. I knew some pretty foul-mouthed guys in my day, but none of them were nearly as abrasive as he was.

I slung my pack over my shoulders and angrily left the inn and headed to go get Ghost. I hoped she had a better time making friends then I did. Then again, chocobos probably don't have much to talk about anyways.

As I pulled Ghost out and was getting ready to mount and head out, I was met at the stables by a group of similar-looking younger men. At least four of them. I glared at them and they all glared back at me.

I started to turn and leave with my bird when one of them stepped forward towards me and called me out. "Hey."

I tensed, and readied myself internally for the inevitable fight I was about to go through. I just hoped I wasn't too rusty. "Hey."

"You know, that was my little brother. What the hell's your problem, you cunt?"

I scowled at the guy as he crossed his arms, "Well, your little brother is an asshole, and if you call me a cunt one more time, you're gonna have matching nose jobs."

The guys started to fan out and try to circle me. I wasn't too scared, because let's face it, black dragons, Jenova, and Sephiroth are all scary shit. Four young, drunk adults are child's play compared to what I had faced before.

I glanced at all four of them as they advanced. I could immediately see one of them grabbing for his pocket, no doubt pulling out a knife. I balled my fists up and got ready. The first one smirked a little and said, "Let's have some fun."

I struck then. My foot connected with one's chest as I flew at him and knocked him over. I bounced off of him and left him coughing incessantly and struggling to get up. The other three came at me then, and to be honest, I don't really remember much of what I was doing. I jumped a lot, I punched and kicked a few times but that was really it.

Just as I thought I was going to finish them off, the first one stood up and faced me. As I started to move, he drew out a small pistol and took aim at me. My eyes widened but my glare did not falter. He didn't look like a good shot, and he was probably blind with anger too, so there was that. I did believe he was mad enough to shoot me, but he probably wouldn't hit a major artery.

I saw his finger wrap around the trigger and before I could move anywhere or do anything, there was an unmistakable _bang_.

I thought he had shot me at first, and I froze to the spot. Then my brow furrowed in confusion when I felt no burning sensation or pain. The man dropped his pistol and crumpled to the ground in front of me. I gasped in horror as blood started to run from his head and across the sand, his eyes staring off into space. This was just like my nightmares, except usually it would be someone I knew lying dead in front of me.

As I began to backpedal, I heard a familiar voice.

"Tifa!"

I looked in the direction it came from and found myself standing 10 feet away, looking face-to-face at Vincent.

The shock of what had just transpired got to me and I could only choke out a "V-Vincent!"

In an instant he was in front of me. He scanned me, probably looking for injuries and when he found none, he visibly relaxed. I watched him carefully as he looked around at the scene. Then, without a word, he re-holstered his gun, reached down to take my hand, and he led me away from the resort.

We got a considerable distance away, Vincent half-dragging me, I nearly had to jog to keep up with him, while Ghost obediently trotted after us, warking at Vincent.

Finally Vincent stopped and let me go. He looked back towards town probably to make sure we were away from anyone who would try to come after me again. Then his red eyes turned to me. "Are you alright?"

I didn't say anything for a second then I nodded my head. "Yeah. I'm fine."

His gaze didn't leave me, in fact his eyes narrowed for a short second before he asked, "What happened Tifa? Why are you here?"

I told him the whole story, or most of it anyways. I told him of deciding to take some time off and go see our friends. How I went to Reeve's, then he gave me the ferry ticket and I journeyed here and was just trying to relax and have a drink when that punk kid made himself comfortable at my table. How I tried to get away from him but he became more and more intolerable until finally I gave him the unmistakable message of 'leave me alone'. Then how his brother and his friends attacked me, and how I came to be standing here with him.

Vincent listened to all of it with that stoic, unmoving facial expression of his and never once asked a question or made a comment. When I finished he nodded his head slowly. "And, will you be coming to visit me then?"

I stuttered for a moment before I spit out, "Well, yeah eventually…"

Then he spun around without a word and started to walk away, across the countryside.

I was confused and I called out, "H-Hey. Where are you going?"

He didn't look back at me, nor did he slow his pace until he was a good distance away from me. Then he simply turned back and responded, "I wish to speak with you too, but I must go make my place more suited for company first. Do not go back to the resort, go visit Nanaki. I will let him know you're coming. Then tomorrow, come to Nibelheim."

I was perplexed. I didn't mean that when I was visiting my friends, that I was coming to him first. Not that I didn't want to see him, but, well, yeah I kinda wanted to wait to see him until after I knew that he wasn't aware of what was going on with me.

I looked at Ghost, who look back at me before warbling quietly and sniffing at my hair. I bit my lip and watched his red figure grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Vincent wanted to speak with me? About what?

I petted Ghost a bit before I climbed onto her back. I guess I was going to head to Cosmo Canyon, then. Maybe Red would have something going on that could distract me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Red greeted me feverishly. His excitement was contagious and I found myself laughing as I embraced my old friend. His huge paws felt warm and heavy on my back and it was reassuring to me. We parted from each other and he gave me a big toothy grin, his one golden eye glowing.

"It's so good to see you, Tifa."

I smiled brightly and reached over to stroke his soft mane. "I'm happy to see you too, Red. I heard you've been busy."

He nodded and straightened himself out. "I have. I don't believe you've met Deneh yet." I shook my head and he motioned for me to follow him.

We headed up the canyon to that familiar house, Red was filling me in the whole time. How Deneh and he were to be guardians of the planet before the whole meteor thing, but Deneh thought he was a coward at first and in the end, when he returned, they made up and now they were waiting to perform the guardian ritual again.

Then Red spoke about Vincent. "I heard you had a run in with Vincent in Costa del Sol?"

I smiled at the fact that our mystery man had already approached the cat with the story, however at the memory of the kid he had shot lying on the ground, the smile faded and I flinched. I just hoped that wouldn't come back to haunt me.

I nodded, choosing not to tell Red of the incident. "I did. He was as placid as ever." Red chuckled and said, "Yes. I couldn't imagine that he would ever be anything but placid."

When we reached the house and entered, Red made me stop in the doorway. He motioned for me to fall back and said, "Wait here. I'll let her know you're coming up."

I nodded and let Red go upstairs alone. I smiled to myself at the thought that Red would soon have a mate. He would make a great father one day. I could hear Red call to Deneh and then his voice coupled with a low-toned female one.

A minute passed and as I was fiddling with my jacket, Red reappeared at the top of the stairs and told me I could come. I trekked up the stairs rather quickly, I was excited to meet this Deneh. Red accompanied me down the hall and said, "Oh Tifa you will love her, I'm sure of it. She is very passionate, and intelligent. Just like you."

I flushed slightly at all the warm compliments Red showered me with, but my grin never faded. We got to the bedroom door and Red used his nose to push it open. He stepped in and I followed him and found curled up on the bed, the most beautiful lioness I'd ever seen.

Deneh was a blonde lioness. She obviously cared about her upkeep a little more than Red may have cared about his, her fur was shimmery, and looked as though she had just been brushed. Her cat eyes were a bright sky blue and when she smiled, her white fangs were prominent. Her tail burned bright orange and yellow just like Red's; that must have been the signature of their species.

I came to a stop a few feet from her, I knew how a cat could be in the face of a stranger and I didn't want her to feel that I was invading her space. "Hello Miss Deneh."

She stood from her nest of bedding and hopped to the floor, and walked towards me. I'd have to hand it to her, she was very alluring. I kneeled down to her level and let her sniff me a bit. Then she nodded her silky head and purred. "Hello Miss Lockhart, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

She returned to her place but did not lie down, and Red sat by her proudly. I couldn't help myself, I had to know. "So do you know when the next ritual will be?" Red shook his mane as his mate thought about it and said, "Grandfather said the ceremony of guardians is held every 50 years."

I couldn't help the disappointment in my voice. "Oh. That's a long time."

Red continued gently, "Yes but that is just the ceremony held for the guardians. It does not necessarily mean that Deneh and I cannot become mates for 50 more years. We have been talking about holding a ceremony just for Cosmo Canyon."

I perked up a bit and nodded in response, and as I was going to sit down Deneh stood up suddenly and said, "Miss Lockhart, would you be so kind as to walk with me for a bit?"

I was surprised by the question and I blinked for a moment and glanced at Red, who looked to his mate. Then I nodded to her and replied, "Of course I would."

Deneh hummed her approval and walked forward. Red stood up too and asked her, "Would you like me to come as well?" Deneh looked back over her shoulder, so I couldn't see her face. "Not this time Nanaki, you stay here. We need to prepare a room for Miss Lockhart."

I turned to walk with Deneh and said embarrassedly, "Please, call me Tifa."

Deneh nodded but said nothing. I followed the lioness' lead out of the room, and down the stairs. I realized then that she wanted to leave the house and walk the canyon. I didn't think much of it, other than maybe she just wanted to get to know me a little more.

We got out of the house and we were making the trek down the path to downtown Cosmo when Deneh looked at me with those sparkling eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about something I sense in you, Tifa."

I felt like I had been hit with ice water. I swallowed the lump that grew in my throat and spoke, "Alright."

Deneh's kind face turned hard for a moment and she said "There is a darkness in you that I cannot figure out. I sensed it when I first met you upstairs. For my sake, I must ask you. What are you keeping inside of you?"

I nearly tripped while we were strolling because I was fixed on her face. I was at a loss for words. Did she really pick up something inside of me from that one sniff she gave me? "I-I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Deneh stopped, as did I and she turned her body to face me fully. She looked me over again and said, "When I look at you, it's as if there is a black aura around you. Something is different about you. Are you completely yourself today? Have you full control of your mind, body, and soul?"

I pursed my lips for a moment, then I nodded. "I think so."

Deneh nodded too and continued to look at me for a moment. I had no idea what to do so I just looked back at her. Then she seemed to shrug her shoulders and turn away. "Hmm. I just thought for a moment that you had a darkness in your mind. I would have asked Nanaki but I didn't want to be rude."

I blinked again but didn't react beyond that. We continued to walk around town for a while, looking at all the people and merchandise that were out. I stopped at a fruit stand and bought a couple oranges. I tried not to look at Deneh as we went through the market, for fear that she would start thinking otherwise about me.

We continued in silence for a little while longer, but it was starting to get to me. I felt that I owed the cat an explanation so she wouldn't feel negatively towards me right off the bat. Then finally I decided to open my mouth. "Well, I have been having a tough time sleeping at night…sometimes…"

Deneh was sniffing at a produce stand when I said that, and she turned back to look at me. "Oh? You have nightmares?"

I looked at all the people that were around us, and I motioned Deneh to come with me. I led her away from all the people and we stopped to sit down for a moment. When I was sure we were alone, I told her about the most recent one I had at Reeve's house. She listened to me speak but never reacted. When I finished she thought about it for a moment. Then she asked, "Is that all that's been happening? Just ambiguous dreams with no real meaning?"

I shrugged and said, "I guess. They've been happening a lot though. I don't know what to do."

Deneh licked at one of her paws for a moment. I turned my gaze to look out at the canyon and at the town. Then Deneh spoke again, "When these dreams occur, is it always the same? Is there always a constant in them?"

I debated internally about whether or not I should tell her. I didn't know this cat, and I didn't know if she'd tell Red. I didn't want Red to get involved with this. However my need for answers and solace won out and I nodded. "Y-yeah there's always the same person in my dreams. I'm not sure I'm ready to say who it is, but they're always there. I don't know why though."

I stood up and paced around a little. "I know this person well enough to know that they wouldn't really hurt me. In these nightmares though, all they want to do is kill me. I'm struggling to figure out what's going on."

Deneh had a look of understanding on her face, but her voice was firm. "Then, if they aren't a danger to you in reality, you should talk to them about it. Tell them what's happening."

I chuckled a bit to myself and kicked at the ground with my foot. "You think it's just that easy?"

One of the lioness' ears flicked and she said, "It is once you get past the initial contact. You humans like to complicate things by adding all these unneeded emotions. Go find this person and just try it. I am sure that you will feel better."

I didn't want to further debate this with the cat and I simply nodded and let her lead me back to the house.

Dinner was sort of scarce at Red's house for me. While Red and his mate ate some raw foods that I would consider unhealthy for myself, I went back down to the market to find my dinner.

After dinner, I went straight to bed, not having much to say. Red was off doing other things anyways and Deneh was reading. I stared up at the ceiling for a long time. I was pretty nervous about talking to Vincent tomorrow. Well, pretty nervous was an understatement. If I thought about it for too long, I would get sick to my stomach so I'd have to think about something else for a while until the nausea dissipated.

Whatever Vincent wanted to talk about, we'd just cover real fast and then I'd bid him adieu. I didn't want to be around him too much, hell he already made night time impossible for me. If I were to have a nightmare, and wake up from him nearly killing me, to seeing him shaking me or yelling at me, I would probably have an aneurysm.

My stomach started to turn again so I quickly averted my train of thought and focused on the cubs that Red and Deneh would one day have. Not that they had mentioned any plans to me, but then again, they _were_ animals. It wasn't wrong of me to assume such a thing would happen.

I smiled to myself as I imagined a mini Red rolling around on the floor with others that looked like him. I closed my eyes and continued to think about Red's cubs for a while longer.

Along the way somewhere, I finally went to sleep. I really can't tell you much of what I dreamed that you probably can't already guess. There was danger, there was a great deal of death. This time, it was raining hard in my dream almost to the point where I having to wade just to get where I was going. Before I reached whatever goal my dream set for me, the inevitable occurred. Some monster that resembled Vincent in some way or other, caught me and started to rip me to shreds before I finally woke up.

The sun had come off the horizon by the time I was fully awake and ready to get up. I was quick to make up my bed and go see Red and Deneh before I left. Red gave me another warm hug and asked that I come revisit before I went back to Edge and I rubbed Deneh's ear fondly, earning a purr from the lioness. She looked at me with those glowing blue eyes. "Remember what we discussed yesterday."

I nodded at her and replied "I think that's what I'm about to go do." She nodded in response.

I rounded up Ghost and headed out to the last place on earth I wanted to go to right now. With every jolt of Ghost's feet hitting the ground as she trotted, my nerves frayed little by little. Why was I being so childish? I have no idea, but those dreams were too much for me. I really needed at least one night of solid sleep. Maybe I should tell Vincent at least a little bit about them.

Nibelheim wasn't too far away though, and pretty soon I found myself at my old house. I put my chocobo away and went in to throw my bag of stuff down on my bed. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair for a moment, muttering to myself about how crazy I must be.

No less than three minutes later I found myself at the gate of the old mansion. I heaved a sigh, and found myself trudging up to the door. I never trudge anywhere, unless it's up a crater to face Sephiroth so it was pretty obvious I didn't want to talk to Vincent. I mean I wanted to see my old friend; that was true. I just wish it were under better circumstances.

Just as I reached the door and I raised my hand to the brass knocker, I jumped slightly as the door opened on its own. Vincent stepped out from behind the door and stood there looking at me.

I smiled at him maybe a little too tiredly, "Hello Vincent."

He nodded at me once and pushed the door open the rest of the way. I could already tell he was sizing me up. Apparently whatever he wanted to tell me wasn't going to be all that great, I just hoped it wasn't what I thought it was. "Tifa. Come in."

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of update. I'll try to be more on top of things.**


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